Anti-Drinking Organization Chairman Archie Brock calls for a show of hands from attendees at Monday’s meeting to see how many of them live in South Cadiz Precinct One where a petition is circulating to allow a referendum to decide on alcohol sales at the Arrowhead Golf Course.

Local residents opposed to a petition seeking a referendum on the sale of alcoholic beverages at the Arrowhead Golf Course gathered at Cadiz Baptist Church on Monday night.

Organized by Trigg County Baptist Ministers Irvin Darnell, Archie Brock and Mike Rust, the 20-30 faces in the crowd showed some reluctance to assume leadership within the movement. When asked to select officers, no one raised a hand to volunteer or nominate a fellow attendee. Several said that they did not live in the South Cadiz Precinct where the petition is circulating and will be decided.

“I don’t like that answer,” said Darnell. “It will start in the first precinct where it will get a foothold before moving to other precincts.”

Rust said that though Brock had trouble hearing, he would be willing to accept the post of chair if no one else sought the nomination. Pastor Kevin Roberts of Cadiz Baptist Church nominated Brock. With a unanimous chant of “amen,” he assumed the chairmanship of the organization.

“It’s my ambition in this to do all that I can to oppose the issue in a Christian spirit,” said Brock. “If they get the signatures they need, then we will be prepared to oppose it.”

Brock called for the selection of a treasurer, secretary and members of both financial and public relations committees. Again, the assembly displayed reluctance to volunteer. He said that he hoped the secretary would be a resident of the district with the initiative. Rust volunteered for the post, with no other names put forth.

Brock said the organization needed a treasurer, as the group would file as a political action group with the County Clerk’s Office and file expenses. The nominations closed with no volunteers. The organization left its finance committee unmanned, and a treasurer unnamed for now.

Brock proceeded with the meeting by introducing Don Cole, interim Chairman of the Kentucky Ethics League, who vowed to support the movement with information.

Cole said that he once served as pastor of the Canton Baptist Church from 1958-1961. “We’re going to do all we can to fight this. Sometimes we’ve been successful. Sometimes we’ve failed. Sometimes these things have passed by a narrow margin. Sometimes they have been defeated by a narrow margin.”

Cole pointed to nearby Princeton as an example of temperance efforts. He said that a group of teens, too young to vote, circulated a letter asking for voters to oppose an alcohol referendum. He said that the initiative failed by five votes, and that pastors in the community credited the letter for changing at least five minds prior to voting.

“No community needs it,” said Cole. “It’s like Brother Archie said. If it doesn’t pass, they will come at it from some other way, in some other part of the county. They won’t let it die. Once it gets here, we will have a hard time getting rid of it. It could be here until Jesus returns. If that’s the welcome you want for him, then vote for it.”

Cole said that a drunk driver hit him and his wife 30 years ago. He added that no settlement could ever compensate for what his family lost, and that his wife’s recent hip surgery causing her pain and discomfort came as a result of the accident.